Revs stay alive with win over Crew

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Diego Fagundez scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the 76th minute to lift the Revolution to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night that kept New England's playoff hopes alive.

A.J. Soares opened the scoring in the 32nd minute for New England and Dominic Oduro equalized in the 59th minute for Columbus. Chris Tierney converted a penalty kick in the 69th minute to put the Revolution back in front before Aaron Schoenfeld leveled it again in the 71st.

The Revolution (13-11-9, 48 points) are tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with Houston. The top five teams in each conference advance to the playoffs.

The win extended the Revolution's unbeaten streak to five (3-0-2), while the Crew (12-16-5, 41 points) dropped their second straight.

Revolution striker Jerry Bengtson earned his first start since July 17, while Andy Dorman took over in central midfield for Lee Nguyen, who was suspended for the match due to caution accumulation.

Needing all three points to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Revolution sent numbers forward early and often before converting just after the half-hour mark. Kelyn Rowe ripped a free kick that Soares nodded out of the reach of goalkeeper Matt Lampson.

Oduro put the Crew level with the Revolution when he collected a pass from Schoenfeld and easily beat Matt Reis right before the hour mark.

Dorman earned a penalty in the 68th minute when he was fouled by Tony Tchani inside the box. A minute later, Tierney buried it from the spot.

But the Crew responded shortly after when Oduro fed Schoenfeld near the edge 18 and the rookie lodged it into the net in 71st minute.

The Revolution got the final say when Dorman sent a pass toward the far post, where Fagundez easily tapped it through to give the Revolution the three points they needed to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Revolution and Crew meet again for the regular-season finale next Sunday at Crew Stadium.